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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
|EU|September 30, 2005|NA|October 4, 2005}} |genre=Platform-adventure, action role-playing |modes=Single-player, multiplayer }} Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow }} is an action-adventure game developed and published by Konami. It is part of Konami's Castlevania video game series and the first Castlevania game released on the Nintendo DS. The game is the sequel to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and incorporates many elements from its predecessor. Dawn of Sorrow was commercially successful. It sold more than 15,000 units in its first week in Japan and 164,000 units in the United States during the three months after its initial release. Dawn of Sorrow continues the story of Aria of Sorrow. Dracula has been completely defeated, and his powers assumed by his reincarnation, Soma Cruz. With the help of his allies, Soma avoids becoming the new dark lord. A cult forms to bring forth a new dark lord by killing Soma. Soma and his allies move to ensure a new dark lord is not created. Dawn of Sorrow incorporates many features from earlier Castlevania games: the combination of elements from platform games and role-playing video games, the "Tactical Soul" system featured in Aria of Sorrow and a dark, gothic atmosphere. Dawn of Sorrow also introduces new gameplay elements, like the "Magic Seal" system, which requires the use of the DS stylus to draw a pattern to defeat powerful enemies, a distinctive anime character design, and a multiplayer mode, where two players compete for fastest times on a prerendered level. The game received high scores from many video game publications, and was considered one of the best games on the Nintendo DS for 2005. The game was re-released in Japan on June 29, 2006, and later in North America during 2007 as part of the "Konami the Best" line. Gameplay , using the Flame Demon soul. The upper screen shows the character's statistics and information on the enemy.]] During the game, the player controls the onscreen character from a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies. Like previous games in the series, and most role-playing games, characters level up each time they earn a set number of experience points from defeating enemies; each level gained increases the character's statistics, thus improving their performance in battle. Statistic examples include hit points, the amount of damage a character can receive; magic points, which determine the number of times a character can use magical attacks; strength, the power of a character's physical attacks; and intelligence, the power of a character's magical spells. Upon encountering an enemy, the player can use a variety of weapons to attack and defeat the enemy. Despite the game being set in 2036, the weapon choices are largely medieval, including swords, axes, and spears, although handguns and a rocket-propelled grenade are available. These weapons differ in their damage output, their range, and the speed of the attack. Dawn of Sorrow, like most games in the Castlevania series, is set in a castle, which is subdivided into various areas. Areas of the castle differ in their composition, including monsters and terrain features. In addition, each area has its own unique piece of theme music that plays while the player is in that area. The character moves around the environment based on the player's choices; however, the items the player has restricts the areas the character can move into, like most platform games. Progression, however, is not linear, as players are free to explore the parts of the castle they have access to, and can backtrack or move forward as they see fit. Tactical Soul The primary method for the player to gain additional abilities in the game is the absorption of souls via the Tactical Soul system originally featured in Aria of Sorrow. Except for human enemies and the game's final opponent, the player can absorb all enemies' souls. The chances for absorbing a soul varies on the enemy, as certain enemies will release souls more regularly than others. The player can absorb multiple copies of the same soul; many of these souls will increase in effectiveness depending on the number of the same soul a player possesses. Souls provide a variety of effects and are separated into four categories: Bullet, Guardian, Enchant, and Ability souls. The player can have only one type of Bullet, Guardian, and Enchant soul equipped at any given time. However, when the player acquires the "Dopplegänger" soul, they can have two different weapon and soul setups, and switch between them at will. Players can trade souls wirelessly using two Dawn of Sorrow game cards. Bullet souls are often projectiles and consume a set amount of magic points upon use. Guardian souls provide continuous effects including transforming into mythical creatures, defensive abilities, and the summoning of familiars. The movement and attacking of familiars can be directly controlled with the stylus. Guardian souls continually drain magic points so long as they are activated. Several Guardian souls can be used in with Bullet souls to execute special attacks called Tactical Soul combos. Enchant souls offer statistical bonuses and resistance against several forms of attack. They are passive, and require no magic points to remain active. Ability souls give the player new abilities and are required to move into certain areas of the castle. They are always active, and therefore not equipped—nor do they consume magic points. Some examples include the abilities to break ice blocks with the stylus and to double-jump. Souls can also be spent to permanently transform a character's weapon. At Yoko Belnades' shop, the player can remove certain souls from their inventory to change their weapon into a stronger form. Certain weapons can only be acquired by using souls to strengthen a lesser form of the weapon. Souls are also used in the "Enemy Set" mode, where a player builds a custom scenario. The player can place monsters inside rooms if they have acquired the monster's soul in the main game, but boss enemies cannot be added to any scenario, even if the player has the boss' soul. Two players using two Nintendo DS consoles can compete in these scenarios, with the winner being the one with the fastest time completing the course. Magic Seal The Magic Seal system is a new feature introduced in Dawn of Sorrow that uses of the DS touchscreen. Once the player reduces the hit points of a "boss" enemy to zero, a circle will appear, and the game will automatically draw a pattern connecting any number of smaller circles on the circumference of the larger circle. After this, the player is prompted to draw the same pattern on the touchscreen in a set amount of time. If the player fails to draw the pattern accurately within the time limit, the boss will regain health and the battle will resume. If successful, the boss will be defeated. More powerful boss enemies require higher level Magic Seals, which have more intricate and complex patterns as the level increases and are found over the course of the game. Julius Mode After the player completes the game with either the bad ending or the best ending, Julius Mode, similar to that in Aria of Sorrow is unlocked. In storyline terms, Julius Mode follows the assumption that Soma succumbed to his dark power and became the new dark lord.Julius Belmont: "So...Soma has become the dark lord. I have no other choice...The battles of the past are to be waged once again..." / Genya Arikado: "I had assumed that he would have equipped the talisman from Mina... It would have protected him. But alas, I will have to unleash my power..." A new game can then be started from the main menu in Julius Mode. In Julius Mode the playable characters include Julius Belmont, Yoko Belnades, and Alucard. Each character has a weapon and assorted unique abilities. Although these abilities remain static throughout the entire game, the characters' statistics can improve by acquiring enough experience points to level up. The castle layout and enemies are the same except for the final battle, which is against Soma.Julius Belmont: "Soma... It's time I fulfilled my promise to you." / Yoko Belnades: "I'm sorry, Soma. I will free you from your torment." / Alucard: "Soma...I never wanted it to end this way...But I can't allow you to wreak havoc anymore..." Plot Setting Dawn of Sorrow is set in the fictional universe of the Castlevania series. The primary premise of the series is the struggle of the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan against the vampire Dracula and his legacy. Before the events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Dracula was permanently defeated and his castle sealed within a solar eclipse. With Dracula dead, a prophecy relating to who would inherit his powers drove the events of Aria of Sorrow, with the protagonist, Soma Cruz, realizing that he was Dracula's reincarnation.Soma: "So...you are trying to tell me now that Dracula has been resurrected?" / Graham: "No. Dracula perished in 1999. You do know of the prophecy of 1999, don't you?" / Soma: "Nostradamus' great prophecy?" / Graham: "That's right. Dracula resurrected exactly as he predicted. But vampire hunters destroyed him completely. They ended his regeneration cycle by sealing his castle...the symbol of his demonic power, inside the darkness of an eclipse." / Soma: "And that eclipse is where we are now?" / Graham: "Yes, but there's still more to the story." / Soma: "There's more?" / Graham: "In the year 2035, a new master will come to the castle, and he will inherit ALL of Dracula's powers." Soma manages to escape his fate of becoming the new dark lord with the help of his allies. Dawn of Sorrow takes place one year after the events of Aria of Sorrow, when Soma believes that his inherited powers have been lost.Mina Hakuba: "And what was it called? You know, the ability to use the power of monsters?" / Soma Cruz: "You mean the power of dominance? I lost it when we escaped Dracula's Castle, remember?" Most of the game is played inside a copy of Dracula's castle, which is subdivided into several areas through which the player must venture over the course of the game. The future setting of both Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, as well as a storyline beginning after Dracula's defeat, reflects Koji Igarashi's desire to take a "different route" with Aria of Sorrow. Characters The primary playable character in Dawn of Sorrow is Soma Cruz, the reincarnation of Dracula, the longtime antagonist of the Castlevania series. Mina Hakuba, the daughter of the priest of the Hakuba shrine supports him in his quest; Genya Arikado, a mysterious government agent dealing primarily with the supernatural; Julius Belmont, the latest member of the Belmont clan of vampire hunters featured in the series; Yoko Belnades, a witch in the service of the Roman Catholic Church; and Hammer, a vendor of military material who retains a large information network. A cult dedicated to the resurrection of the dark lord serves as the game's antagonists. Celia Fortner is a shadow priestess heading the cult. She seeks to revive the dark lord to prevent the loss of her magical powers. Dmitrii Blinov, a ruthless manipulator, and Dario Bossi, a vicious firebrand, are Celia's primary lieutenants. They are the "dark lord's candidates", born on the day Dracula was slain and thus can assume the mantle of dark lord by destroying Dracula's soul, which is present in Soma Cruz.Soma Cruz: "So those two are the dark lord's candidates..." / Celia Fortner: "Correct. They were born at the same time as Dracula's demise. They are inheritors of Dracula's dark powers." / Soma Cruz: "But that's no guarantee that they can become the dark lord." / Celia Fortner: "They can. By shattering Dracula's soul." Story One year after the events in Aria of Sorrow, Soma is living peacefully, and believes that his powers have been lost. A woman who identifies herself as Celia Fortner, appears and summons several monsters. Arikado arrives to help Soma defeat the monsters, after which Soma absorbs their souls. Celia retreats, proclaiming that she will destroy Soma. Soma expresses disbelief at the return of his powers, but Arikado reveals that his powers were never lost, only dormant.Soma Cruz: "Yeah, I'm fine. But that power...It returned! Arikado, what's going on?" / Genya Arikado: "The power didn't "return." It was always with you. You just never had a need for it since you fled the castle. And that set free all the souls that you had gained dominance over." He informs Soma that Celia is the head of a cult that seeks the resurrection of the dark lord.Genya Arikado: "They want to resurrect the lord of darkness. Like some sought to do with Dracula." / Soma Cruz: "I guess they don't like the fact that I didn't become the 'lord of darkness'." / Genya Arikado: "Not only that, they intend to create a new lord by eliminating you." He leaves, instructing Soma not to pursue Celia. Soma, however, uses information acquired from Hammer to locate the cult's base, a facsimile of Dracula's castle.Soma Cruz: "So, the cult's base is here. Hammer's info wasn't so iffy after all." Hammer arrives, and as he has left the military, agrees to help Soma by opening up a shop in the village outside the castle.Hammer: "Aw, man... Well, since I'm here, I'd better make the best of it. I guess I'm back in business, and you're my customer!" After entering the castle, Soma encounters Yoko and Julius Belmont. As Julius leaves, Soma escorts Yoko to a safe location. During this time, she instructs him in the use of a Magic Seal, which is necessary to defeat certain monsters in the castle.Yoko Belnades: "The cult leader appears to create gates that draw the power of darkness. Monsters exposed to that power are said to be invincible." Soma Cruz: "So how am I supposed to destroy them?" / Yoko Belnades: "That's where this Magic Seal comes in." As Soma travels farther into the castle, he meets Celia, who is flanked by two men, Dmitrii Blinov and Dario Bossi. Celia explains their nature as the "dark lord's candidates", who can become the dark lord by destroying Soma. He later encounters Dmitrii and is able to defeat him. Soma gains dominance over his soul, although he acquires no abilities.Soma Cruz: "Unh! What was that? Did I gain dominance over a human soul? No, I gained no power... But...what was that light?" As Soma travels further, he comes upon Dario. Soma bests him, and Celia teleports Dario away from harm. Soma meets Arikado, who is initially angered by Soma's presence, but accepts the situation. He gives Soma a letter and a talisman from Mina. Soma briefs Arikado on the current situation, and Arikado leaves to locate Dario. Soma comes upon Dario and Julius who is later defeated due to his inability to use the Magic Seals.Julius Belmont: "Watch it. He's tough. Especially for me, since I can't use Magic Seals." Dario retreats, instructing Soma to fight him in the castle's throne room. Soma does so, lambasting Dario for only desiring power, and promising to defeat him.Soma Cruz: "Was there ever any doubt? Power is nothing if you don't know how to use it. I'll never lose to a fool dominated by his own power like you." Before the battle begins, Soma uses one of his souls to transport himself into the mirror in the room, revealing Aguni, the flame demon sealed within Dario's soul. Soma defeats Aguni, leaving Dario powerless. As Dario flees, Celia arrives, and instructs Soma to come to the castle's center. Upon arriving, Soma is forced to watch Celia kill Mina. Furious, he begins to succumb to his dark power.Soma Cruz: "If it means getting Mina's revenge, I'll do it. Make me the dark lord." The talisman that Mina gave Soma is able to slow the transformation, enabling Arikado to arrive in time to inform Soma that the "Mina" who Celia killed was a doppelgänger.Genya Arikado: "That Mina is a fake!" / Celia Fortner: "Arikado! Why must you always get in the way?" / Genya Arikado: "How clever of you to use a Doppelganger. Ah, but you haven't won just yet..." This aborts the transformation, but a soul leaves Soma and enters the doppelgänger, which takes on the appearance of Dmitrii. Dmitrii says that when Soma defeated him he allowed himself to be absorbed, wishing to use his powers to copy Soma's ability to dominate the souls of Dracula's minions. He then leaves with Celia to absorb the souls of many powerful demons and monsters in an attempt to increase his power.Genya Arikado: "You copied the power of dominance from Soma?" / Dmitrii Blinov: "Ah, so you understand. I touched the boy's soul and copied his ability." Soma and Arikado chase after the pair, and find them in the castle's basement. Dmitrii, using Celia as a sacrifice, seals Arikado's powers, and engages Soma. However, his soul is unable to bear the strain of controlling the demons he has absorbed, and they erupt out of him, combining into one gargantuan creature called Menace. Soma manages to defeat it, but the souls that composed the demon begin to fall under Soma's dominance. He becomes overwhelmed and rejects them, fleeing from the castle with Arikado. Soma is conflicted over the present situation. He believes that it was his responsibility to become the dark lord, and that the events of the game were the result of him not accepting this responsibility. Arikado convinces him that his fate is not fixed.Soma Cruz: "Then that means there will always be a need for a dark lord. All because I ducked out from becoming the next in line!" / Genya Arikado: "Don't misconstrue me! Perhaps there is a need for the dark lord...But there is no reason at all for you to become the dark lord." / Soma Cruz: "But if it weren't for me, none of this would have happened!" / Genya Arikado: "You're neither a god nor a demon. You're only human. You have no chance at ever achieving perfection. Or are you saying you want to be the dark lord?" / Soma Cruz: "No...Of course not." Soma then shares a tender moment with Mina, much to the amusement of his onlooking friends. Development led the production team and wrote the game's story.]] The production of Dawn of Sorrow was announced on January 6, 2005, as the first Castlevania game to be released for the Nintendo DS. Longtime Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi was in charge of the production. The choice to develop the game for the Nintendo DS instead of the Sony PlayStation Portable was due to Aria of Sorrow s success on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, and Igarashi's observations of both consoles during the 2005 E3 Media and Business Summit. He felt that it was a waste to use the storyline with Soma Cruz and the Tactical Soul system in only one game, contributing to his desire to make a sequel. The original design team from Aria of Sorrow, as well as personnel from Konami Tokyo, were involved in the production of Dawn of Sorrow. Igarashi intended to include a white-collar Japanese worker in the game. This worker would be a manager in a Japanese firm and have a family. However, the development team's opposition to this idea forced him to drop it. The use of the technical features of the Nintendo DS was one of the production team's principal concerns during development. The DS touch screen was a primary point of interest. Several functions such as picking up items on the screen and moving them were originally intended to be incorporated into the game. However, scheduling problems forced the development team to abandon many of these ideas. Igarashi's primary concern with using the touch screen was that it would detract from "the Castlevania pure action gameplay", since the player would have to slow down play to use the stylus. The DS microphone was looked at during development, but Igarashi noted that although he found humorous uses for it, it was never seriously considered for inclusion in the game. For the graphical representations of the game's enemies, Igarashi had sprites from earlier Castlevania games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night reused, and the development team redesigned them for use on the Nintendo DS. Unlike most recent Castlevania games, Ayami Kojima did not participate in designing the characters for Dawn of Sorrow. Instead, the characters were drawn in a distinctive anime style, influenced by producer Koji Igarashi who wanted to market the game to a younger audience. Aria of Sorrow s sales figures did not meet expectations, and as a result, Igarashi consulted Konami's sales department. The staff concluded that the demographics of the Game Boy Advance did not line up with the series' target age group. Igarashi believed that the Nintendo DS inherently attracted a younger audience, and he was working to court them with the anime style. Furthermore, Igarashi considered the anime style a litmus test for whether future Castlevania games would incorporate it. Kojima's hiatus from Dawn of Sorrow allowed her to concentrate upon her character designs for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Audio Michiru Yamane and Masahiko Kimura composed the game's music. Yamane, a longtime composer of music for the Castlevania series, had worked earlier on the music of Castlevania games such as Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. Kimura had developed the music for Castlevania on the Nintendo 64. In an interview, Yamane noted that she made the music "simple" and "easy to recognize", similar to her work on previous Castlevania games. She drew a parallel between her work on Castlevania games for the Game Boy Advance and her music for Dawn of Sorrow. In the same interview Igarashi said that making music for handheld game consoles, regardless of the type, is largely the same, although he accepted that the DS's sound capabilities were better than those of the Game Boy Advance. Release In Japan, the game sold over 15,000 units in its first week, acquiring the number ten slot in software sales. The game sold over 164,000 copies in the first three months after its release in the United States. The game was later re-released in both Japan and North America as part of Konami's "Konami the Best" line. Reception | MC = 89/100 | 1UP = A | EuroG = 9/10 | Fam = 33/40 | GSpot = 8.9/10 | GI = 9.25/10 | GSpy = | IGN = 9.3/10 | NLife = 9/10 | NWR = 9.5/10 | XPlay = }} Dawn of Sorrow has received critical acclaim from many video game publications, with several hailing it as the best Nintendo DS game of 2005. Japanese gaming publication Famitsu gave it a 33 out of 40 score. Many reviewers noted that despite being highly similar to Aria of Sorrow, it managed to define itself as a standalone title. GameSpot commented that Dawn of Sorrow succeeded in continuing 2D games as a definite genre, and that it "keeps that flame burning as bright as ever". GameSpot also considered it for the accolade of best Nintendo DS game of 2005, with the prize ultimately going to Mario Kart DS. Editors at IGN awarded Dawn of Sorrow the prize of best adventure game on the DS for 2005. The gameplay, and the Tactical Soul system in particular, received praise from reviewers. The sheer depth of the abilities of the numerous souls found in the game was lauded, and IGN believed that the ability to have two customizable "profiles" of different abilities was "an extremely handy idea". The relative difficulty of the game and its length was also brought into question, with GameSpot noting that the game could be finished in five hours and "is fairly easy as far as Castlevania games go". GameSpot extolled the game's animation and graphics, describing the backgrounds as "intricate and gorgeous" and the individual animation, especially of enemies, as one of the game's "highlights". IGN echoed this assessment, calling the animation "stunning and fluid", and noted the differences in graphics between Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow, stating that the latter was on a "broader and more impressive scale". Reviewers lambasted the use of an anime style of drawing the characters, as opposed to the traditional gothic presentation of illustrator Ayami Kojima in earlier Castlevania games. GameSpy deplored the "shallow, lifeless anime images" used for the characters and Kojima's absence from the production. IGN believed the new images were "down to the level of 'generic Saturday morning Anime' quality". The audio by Michiru Yamane and Masahiko Kimura was highly regarded, with GameSpot stating that it was "head and shoulders above [Aria of Sorrow]". IGN noted that the DS dual speaker system presented the audio "extraordinarily well". In the review from 1UP.com, the game's score was compared to the soundtrack of Symphony of the Night, with "excellent" sound quality and "exceptional" compositions. The functionality associated with the Nintendo DS, namely the touch screen and the Magic Seal system, was subject to criticism from reviewers. GameSpot noted that it was difficult to use the stylus immediately after the game prompted the player to draw the Magic Seal, thus forcing the player to use their fingernail on the touch screen. Other functions using the touch screen, including clearing ice blocks, were viewed as trivial, with GameSpy calling it a "gimmick". However, IGN dismissed the lack of DS functionality as a major issue, claiming that it "doesn't hurt the product in the slightest". In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Notes References External links *Official website *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101204090917/http://www.konami.com/officialsites/castlevania/ Official Castlevania website] Category:2005 video games Dawn of Sorrow Category:Metroidvania games Category:Mobile games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Nintendo DS games Category:Reincarnation in fiction Category:Sacrifices in fiction Category:Side-scrolling role-playing video games Category:Video games scored by Michiru Yamane Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games featuring female antagonists Category:Video games with alternate endings